At this year’s Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE) in Amsterdam, ICIS, a leading global market intelligence provider for the energy, chemical and plastics industries, returned as an exhibitor, offering insights into the complex and evolving world of recycled polymers. We spoke with Alexandra Tawton-Tomczyk, Senior Plastic Recycling & Sustainability Analyst at ICIS, to understand more about their work, the current state of the recycling market, and the regional dynamics shaping the future of plastics. Founded in the late 1800s, ICIS provides critical data and analysis on pricing, supply and demand for both virgin and recycled materials, serving stakeholders across the globe from Europe to the Americas and Asia.
What did ICIS present at PRSE 2025 in Amsterdam? Was it your first time at this event?
This was my third time attending PRSE, though it was ICIS’s second time exhibiting. We exhibited two years ago. This time, we focused on showcasing our core products: price indexes and our tracking of supply and demand for both chemical and mechanical recycling. It was an important opportunity for us to meet with key industry contacts to hear directly from the market what challenges they are facing, and how can we better support them with our data. Additionally, our Global Analyst Team Lead, Plastics Recycling, Helen McGeough, presented key findings from a recent study on the ‘“HDPE & PP RIGIDS MARKET IN EUROPE: STATE OF PLAY”, which our analytics and consulting teams conducted in collaboration with Plastics Recyclers Europe.
Alexandra Tawton-Tomczyk, Senior Analyst, Plastic Recycling & Sustainability
Can you give our readers an overview of ICIS and what your company offers?
Certainly. ICIS – Independent Commodity Intelligence Services – helps businesses through seamlessly delivering data and analytics, across the chemical, fertilizer and energy markets. A trusted source and benchmark for price information and insight across key commodities markets worldwide. Our independent, transparent market intelligence informs thousands of quality decisions every day, taking the pressure out of negotiations and giving customers space for more innovative thinking, through published datasets including price assessments, price forecasts, supply and demand fundamentals and more.
ICIS has been reporting on pricing and providing strategic insights since the late 1800s. Today, our focus spans virgin chemicals, especially those used in packaging, and commodity recycled polymers like rPET, rPP, rHDPE, and rLDPE. Since 2019, we’ve been expanding our coverage in recycled materials including the launch of Mechanical and Chemical Recycling Supply Trackers and the pricing of Mixed Plastic Waste and Pyrolysis Oil in Europe. Our global footprint includes teams across Europe, Asia, North America, and South America, allowing us to provide a comprehensive view of the plastics value chain worldwide.
Let’s talk about the market: prices for recycled materials have been under pressure. What are the current trends?
There are several important dynamics at play. First, persistent macroeconomic challenges are depressing demand across the board, whether it’s for virgin polymers, recycled materials, or finished goods. Post-pandemic recovery has been slower than expected, with customers remaining cautious Coupled with ongoing competition from international players, European recyclers are finding it challenging to maintain good margins. However, we are also seeing significant fragmentation in the market, with some feedstocks and grades performing better than others, where supply continues to outstrip demand.
That said, PRSE 2025 had a more optimistic tone compared to last year. Industry players seem to be adjusting to this “new normal” while preparing for the challenges ahead, particularly with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which is now law in the EU.
Is the recycling industry investing enough to meet PPWR targets?
In my opinion, not yet, and that’s concerning. The PPWR mandates minimum recycled content and recyclability standards that will increase significantly over the next few years. But investment in technology R&D and infrastructure, especially in polyolefins recycling, hasn’t matched the urgency.
To meet PPWR goals, we estimate Europe will need in 2030 around 4 million tonnes of recycled polyolefins. Current production, including for non-packaging applications, is under that threshold, closer to 3.5 million tonnes. While there are promising pilot projects and technologies, the scale-up isn’t happening fast enough, especially for crucial applications such as food contact packaging
Plastic bales bottles at the waste processing plant. Separate garbage collection. Recycling and storage of waste for further disposal. Business for sorting and processing of waste.
You mentioned global dynamics—how do Europe, Asia, and the Americas compare in terms of recycling?
There are clear differences. In Europe, legislation is the primary driver for recycling. The market is heavily shaped by EU regulations, and other countries often look to Europe as a model. For example, in 2022, Japan passed a significant legislation package with a framework focused on plastic resource circulation.
In contrast, Asia and the Americas are driven more by economic incentives. In the U.S., various state-level laws support recycling, but there’s no unified federal framework like the EU’s. In Asia, especially Southeast Asia, the lack of structured municipal waste systems creates a bottleneck in packaging recycling. However, Northeast Asia and China continue to be major players driven by economic imperatives to utilise their extensive recycling infrastructure.
So yes, regional strategies differ – Europe leads with regulation; Asia and the Americas follow the economics.
Zooming in on Italy—what’s the state of the recycling market there?
Italy ranks among the top five recycling countries in Europe, alongside Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK. In 2024, we estimate Italy produced around 700,000 tonnes of recycled materials, including both bottle-grade and fibre-grade rPET, rPP, rPE and rPS.
Despite current economic headwinds, the Italian market is expected to grow in the coming decade, especially as new EU regulations such as the PPWR and the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive (currently under revision to become a regulation) begin to drive stronger demand for recycled content.
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